Blood Thirsty and Hellbent
by mataharitenshi
Summary: Whoa," I breathed, amazed at what appeared to be vampire politics. If I wasn't in awe right now, I might have laughed. - Naruto has unknowingly been suddenly dragged into a world he doesn't understand. Too bad it already knows him. AU ItaNaruSasu
1. Old Repulsions

_**Disclaimer: **_Don't own…~

_**Warnings:**_Blood and lots of it, Yaoi Threesome - M/M/M, Incest/Uchihacest + Naruto (can you say... cha-ching!?), Cross-dressing, fluff, and definitely some angst. I'll give individual warnings if need be and sadly, if things get too naughty (they definitely will might in this one) I'll have to just post those to AFF.

_**Blood Thirsty and Hell-bent**_

_~matahari_

The first thing to assault my already precariously overloaded senses was the unbearably clean, alcohol-induced, antiseptically nauseous stench of a place I knew intimately – a place that I often revisited in my dreams, or rather nightmares. It was somewhere I'd told myself I never ever wanted to revisit within the realm of reality. I may not be able to control where my unconscious thoughts strayed but I could damn well make sure that I didn't physically step foot in this place again. Yet, apparently here I was.

For the second time in my life.

My own personal hell.

A hospital.

I groaned out loud, dragging the hand of an arm that was protesting movement of any kind through what would surely be severely disheveled blond hair. I heard a gasp from somewhere off to my left, alerting me for the first time that others were in the room as well.

_Of course_, I thought, _this is nothing like last time. Last time… there was no on-_ Better to stop that train of thought before it could even leave the station. My life is different now. Whatever may have happened, I can handle it – I'm not a scared little boy anymore. Or so I keep telling myself; that really is just speculation without proof, as of yet.

My eyes fall open, narrowed, icy-blue iris's met the stark white that never failed in drawing a flinch out of me at the sheer blankness. Thank god, unlike last time, the fluorescent lights of Hades, as I had lovingly dubbed them, weren't turned on. That was good, considering I had a headache like no other – of a magnitude that was sure to rival a week of finals at the University, positive that if the only light in the room, the soft glow of night falling outside the wide uncovered windows, had been any brighter it would have surely magnified my throbbing head exponentially.

Something was niggling at the back of my mind though… something about the University. My classes… finals, and oh…

"…Shit!" I sat up so fast, I thought it was an even bet that I was going to vomit all over the hospital sheets. Sitting forward with my head between my knees, I took care to take long, deep breaths to calm my stomach. I was helpless to stop the groan that slipped out in the form or a name, "Dad…" God, why was the room spinning?

"I'm here, Naruto," I heard Iruka mutter softly, the bed shifting where he sat, rubbing soothing circles into my back. Unfortunately, as I tried to sit up my stomach still felt like it was eating itself, protesting loudly my hunger pains.

From the other side of the room, in a deep silky voice I knew, came, "We should have known. Some things will never change."

My head snapped up so quickly I heard a disgusting 'pop' in my ears. "…Itachi?" My eyes conveyed their shock at his presence by imitating something close to dinner plates; no matter what I tried they refused to look away from the tall, dark, and – well let's face it – terribly handsome man.

"But, where's…" I trailed off and my confusion must have shown on my face.

"Sasuke?" He finished.

"Yeah."

"My otouto is at home." Itachi started over towards the bed, gliding with something in the movement of his body that I knew Sasuke would never have. He'd always been so overly elegant and poised when I'd seen him, but now he was laying it on kind of thick. Hadn't he ever heard of subtlety? Or modesty?

So what if you're hot. You don't have to flaunt it damn it. Bastard. No, Sasuke was The Bastard. So that made Itachi like… Bastard Senior.

My head fell into my hands. "Oh god," I bemoaned my fate, "Finals."

Iruka patted me consolingly. "It's okay. Your professors don't blame you for what happened. The University is letting you make them up in a week or so. You just concentrate on getting better."

I nodded. What else could I do? "Shit, what _did_ happen?" My voice was a lot shakier than I'd have liked. I guess I hadn't gotten over the shock yet. Little did I know, it was about to get worse.

There was a look shared around the room. I was starting to feel like the outsider.

Itachi finally took the last step between himself and the hospital bed to look down at me. "Perhaps I should explain that," he said so smoothly, in that deep dark voice – like rich melting chocolate – that I felt an involuntary shiver race up the length of my spine.

To my dismay, he gave a small smirk, just the shadow of what he'd normally have taunted with. Well, maybe he wasn't a complete bastard. It worried me that his eyes were swirling with far more emotion than I'd ever seen before in the few times he'd hung out with me and Sasuke. Amusement had to be the most prominent, but underneath was something hard and cold, an irrational anger and malice. Irrational, because I couldn't understand why he, of all people, would have a righteous indignation for whatever put me in the hospital and it was definitely directed to me… for me.

Weird. Oh, well. More important questions to ask right now.

"Why you? Why not Dad, or a doctor even?"

"Because it has been deemed my right to help you through the… problems you are about to encounter," he explained. While really explaining nothing. Yippee. Alex, I'll take confusing jackasses for five-hundred please.

"Oh-kay…" I drew out the word.

He sighed, a light and airy sound. "You must be quite hungry," he stated.

I frowned, "What the hell does that have to do with the explanation you're supposed to be giving me," I ground out through my teeth. At the mention of food though, especially with these ungodly hunger pangs, I wouldn't have been me if hadn't started daydreaming about what I was hungry for. Ramen, my mind supplied. I immediately clapped a hand over my mouth, hunching over the bed again, in an effort to not puke. Why was the thought of food making me sick?

"Itachi," a voice warned, near the door. I was surprised that I recognized this one as well. Raising my eyes, Mr. Uchiha, Sasuke and Itachi's father, greeted my vision and he did not look happy. I realized I had been having a hard time focusing. Somehow, I hadn't even been able to look around the room yet, and I noticed that Kakashi, my other foster parent, was standing behind Iruka, a worried look gracing his normally lazy features. It made my heart feel a little warmer.

"Aa, aa," the elder son replied lightly and to my complete and udder horror, took the long black lacquered fingernail of his index and cleanly swiped it over his opposite wrist. Blood immediately began to pool on the surface of his pale skin, making me feel slightly queasy.

He raised his right wrist, streaming crimson droplets, to eye level with me, placing his left hand on my shoulder nearest him. I practically stopped breathing I was so worried. Worried that the smell of such a disturbing substance would make me lose my lunch – so to speak; I hadn't eaten I assumed in days with the way I felt.

"Please, Naruto-kun, inhale. It will make this much easier on you."

I could feel my face contort in a grimace as I shook my head slowly back and forth, shying away from that sickeningly fascinating sight. However, I was fighting a losing battle and somehow my brain won, declaring me and idiot if I thought it didn't need oxygen. Stupid brain. Stupid logic.

The moment I let my lungs fill, I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing nauseating. Instead, there was some slightly earthy aroma, clean in the way nature and wide expansive forests were. I closed my eyes fully and breathed in deeply, enticed by the intoxicating smell that was so familiar to my senses that it reminded me of warm fireplaces and comforting kitchens. Yes, that was it: it smelled like home. Whose home I didn't know, just as though I'd smelled this before.

The urge was so strong to lean forward that I must have blacked out for a moment, because when I realized what I was doing my mouth had already parted and my tongue was lapping the streams of red like a kitten to cream. Of their own accord, the fingers of my left hand – bandaged I noticed – had found Itachi's and decided they'd rather like to be threaded together intimately, while my right hand gripped his forearm, just past the wound. I squeezed experimentally, and the viscous fluid poured from the cut faster.

Irrational fear that the precious opening would close and that delicious taste would disappear made me latch my mouth fully over Itachi's wrist and try my damndest to get more blood flowing. It was delectable in an amazing way, but it just wasn't enough. It tasted fantastic and my hunger was subsiding to a no-longer gnawing feeling, but the hunger was still there. Somehow I knew I would never be full drinking from Itachi.

That was when the void that my mind had become finally fastened onto a specific word, hitting me like a ton of bricks – it was blood! Blood, for Christ's sake! The hunger induced fog lifted as quickly as it had come and I could only look helpless and terrified at Itachi as he stared down at me, eyes at half-mast. There was something more in his cold eyes now, something I recognized with a shiver not born of fear but of anticipation.

The shock value of my actions made me dizzy, my vision fuzzy and fading around the edges. So many questions swept through my mind, at an alarming pace, before it went black. My mind latched onto one fleeting thought before sleep took me peacefully. Lust. Itachi's eyes had held lust – scarlet swirls of pure passion, glowing in the darkness.


	2. You're kidding Right?

_**Disclaimer: **_Still don't own…~

_**Warnings:**_Blood and lots of it, Yaoi Threesome - M/M/M, Incest/Uchihacest + Naruto (can you say... cha-ching!?), Cross-dressing, fluff, and definitely some angst.

_**Blood Thirsty and Hell-bent**_

**Ch. 2**

_~matahari_

Itachi moved ahead of me, that slight sway drawing my eyes back like magnets every so often until we reached a door. I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"This isn't where you'll be staying, we have another room already arranged for you to stay in, but here we won't be bothered for as long as we wish to converse," he explained, hand on the knob, "There's also someone you've wanted to see here."

"Huh? How do you always know just what I'm going to say, Itachi? Like some freakin' mind re– SASUKE!!" I stopped mid step through the door upon looking into the room.

"Watch the _volume_, idiot." Sasuke was laying back into a mound of pillows stacked against a thick, wooden headboard. I noticed with some surprise that there were bandages circling his waist.

"Oh my god, Sasuke. What happened?" I indicated his stomach, as I stepped fully into the room. Itachi closed the door quietly behind me as I sat on the edge of the bed.

My best friend waved me away as if every day I asked him why he was wounded. Like I said, 'The Bastard'. I just needed to copyright that shit now. "It was just a small sparring accident."

"Small?" I squeaked.

"Yes," he said, exasperated.

I put my hands up in the universal 'alright, alright I'll drop it!' gesture, muttering something about 'clumsy, temperamental bastards' for good measure.

"So this is your room Sasuke?" I asked.

"Pretty cool," I mumbled, noticing all awesome stuff that lined the walls. It was exactly what I'd expect from the bastard and yet not.

The bookshelves were stacked neatly with comic books and manga volumes (some really good ones too, I noticed). A large corner of the room opposite the ancient looking four-poster bed we were on was devoted to one of the single most amazing entertainment systems I'd ever laid eyes on, with what I considered to be every game known to man and probably a few that weren't, not to mention a shit load of consoles and portable systems.

I mean sure, Sasuke came over to my apartment sometimes and we played video games and yeah, we'd been to the arcade in the mall our fair share, but to see that Sasuke was just as normal a guy as I was...well, weird.

Sasuke let out an, "Ah..." as I scanned the racks of movies held to the wall behind and to the sides of the monstrous television. I looked back at him to find him a bit flabbergasted and confused.

"Sasuke?"

He mumbled something under his breath, studiously inspecting his hands folded in his lap.

"Eh?"

Itachi's voice rang through the room, startling the crap out me incidentally (I'd forgot that the elder bastard was still in the room), answering my question for Sasuke. "What my little brother is trying so eloquently to say is that, this is both our room."

Itachi looked completely at ease, lounging on a fluffy and comfortable sofa pressed against the wall opposite the bed, flanked by more shelves. His legs were crossed, his back straight, and his hands placed neatly in his lap, yet he was the picture of nonchalance. Despite how huge the room was, I couldn't get over how warm their living space felt and now I was even more confused that Itachi hadn't left it barren and cold, but maybe Sasuke had done all the decorating?

I turned back to my best friend and was a little surprised by what I saw. He was glaring at his brother, the effect diminished greatly because his whole face was flushed a deep pink.

"Huh? Why do you share a room?" I asked, scratching my cheek. "I know there's got to be enough rooms in this big ass mansion."

Sasuke didn't look like he was going to answer any time soon - if ever - his lips pressed into a thin line resolutely. So I once again turned to Itachi. It was odd how I kept doing that. If I was honest, I may have kind of liked - an itsy bitsy teeny weenie little bit - to watch the older Uchiha because damn he was actually really attractive. What? No! Not gay, not gay, not gay, not gay... It seems I'm picking up my own mantra. Shit.

Itachi watched me, with those smoldering bedroom eyes, not quite checking me out, but I felt tingling in my spine nonetheless. "It's quite simple really," he stated, "You see, I am the one who was given the honor of siring Sasuke. Although it wasn't much of a problem for us in particular," he smirked and I heard Sasuke choke behind me but I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of Itachi to check if he was okay, "There are some negative effects to turning someone. After Sasuke underwent the transformation to vampire, it was required of him physically to stay close to me. Others have speculated that because our coven only sires those within our family, that we have caused this need for a bond, however the Hyuuga's have the same problem so it is hard to discern from that alone."

Something stuck out odd from those words. "Wait. Does that mean that Neji is..."

"Yes, he is."

"And Hinata, too?"

"Yes, however, because Neji belongs to the branch family, it was Hinata-san that was given the right to change Neji-san. He is, effectively, her servant and protector, a role which I must say he has taken on with some difficulty. Too headstrong," he explained.

"Whoa," I breathed, amazed at what appeared to be vampire politics. If I wasn't in awe right now, I might have laughed.

Questions were swimming wildly because of his explanation. "Does that mean Sasuke is like a servant to you or are the Uchiha different?"

"Of course not, idiot," Sasuke interjected, indignant fury erasing most of his blush.

"What my foolish brother means, Naruto-kun, is that the Uchiha are one family. We have not forced apart or divided our family as the Hyuuga's have. Most members are seen as equals, as Sasuke and I are," he looked pointedly past me to Sasuke, "With the exception of much elder vampires, like Father and our Uncle."

"Wow. Thanks, Itachi," I smiled genuinely at him. No one ever really gives me such straight answers, not ever my dads, and I feel happy that my bastard of a best friend was completely wrong about his brother. Itachi was very nice.

He smiled back at me, and I was astounded by just how beautiful he could be when his face wasn't carefully blank. I suppose if I had a family like his I'd be careful how I looked too though. I was tempted with the insatiable urge to try and get the handsome devil to smile more often.

A chuckle escaped then. "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say," I told him. "And just call me Naruto."

He inclined his head, "As you wish."

I remembered something that happened a few months back. It might have been a stupid question, but I was truly curious. "Wait. Is that why Sasuke was gone for like that week or so back in July?" I asked, eyebrows scrunched together in thought.

Itachi nodded. "Yes, it has become an unwritten decree among us that one must be of a certain age before being turned. By the laws of recent decades, the Elders have decided that it would indeed be beneficial to wait for a young one of the clan to reach twenty-one years of age before making the transformation. To do otherwise is seen as a betrayal," he said lazily, but his eyes were more than attentive.

Right. I nodded, making a small noise of understanding. Sasuke had turned twenty-one on July 23, so naturally this explained why he'd been gone. I and what few other close friends he had, had been told that he was sick - an awful and contagious virus or something of the sort, I couldn't really remember at the moment. Sasuke shifted beside me. "It also helps a great deal with retaining mannerisms that are . . . human," he explained reluctantly. It was interesting to glimpse into their life at all of the bizarre happenings. I'd never dreamed they led such complicated and odd ones. It was with a certain amount of dismay that I realized my life was definitely taking a turn for the strange, also. "The younger a person is, the more detrimental it can be to their mind."

Itachi uncrossed his legs, looking over to Sasuke. "I believe Mother was hoping you are still available to go out shopping with her for the banquet," Itachi's lips quirked, a devious glint in his eyes, "I'm sure, dear brother, that you will find something lovely to wear."

I watched bemused as Sasuke scowled angrily, grumbling out a, "Fine." as he uncovered his pajama clad legs and swung them over the edge of the bed.

The older brother stood finally, drawing my attention back to him. Boy, did Itachi command attention or what?

"Naruto-kun," he said softly, holding a hand out to me. I took it without conscious thought. "Mother would love, very much, for you to accompany her and Sasuke as well, perhaps find something dashing to wear for the gathering. It is in your honor, after all," he finished as he pulled me to my feet, standing a little closer than I deemed strictly necessary - or proper. Then he let go, saying, "Come, I'll show you where you'll be staying while Sasuke gets ready," even as he leaned over his younger brother, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, before striding to the door.

Sasuke stood stock still, shock written all over his face, "Well, at least you didn't poke me," he said wryly, walking toward a door that I assumed was the bathroom as he absently rubbed his forehead. "Asshole," he added as an afterthought.

What the hell I had just witnessed I wasn't sure, but I did know one thing: I'd never seen the brothers' act that nicely or hell even civilly toward one another. Dare I say, the apocalypse was knocking on our door?

Itachi cleared his throat quietly, the sound reaching my ears perfectly, as he stood in the open door leading to the hall. Oh, right. Supposed to be following. (Duh.) I could hear a shower starting as I left their room and Itachi shut the door behind me with a soft 'click'. I expected another god awful trek through the sizeable house and was brought up short when Itachi just casually walked across the hall, producing a key from an inner pocket of his suit jacket, to open a door identical in appearance to the brother's room. Oh, and did I mention, _directly across the hall from them_?

As if the bastard (whom I was beginning to feel should be instead named 'The Devil' for various and sundry reasons) could read my fucking thoughts, he said, "Sasuke and I wish to be close at hand in case you have any problems with your new . . . abilities. It would be a tragic loss if you lived through all the hardship of the change only to die from ignorance."

Yeah, the Itachi-meter just went _way _down. No brownie points for being a dick, sorry. I was definitely beginning to see how the elder Uchiha could come to rub people the wrong way. Easily.

I huffed, crossed my arms over my chest in what my childhood therapist would have called a 'defensive' position, and followed good ol' Lucifer into my new room. Oh, goody, lucky me. The inside of the room was in many ways a lot alike the brothers' room: spacious, comfortable, nice hardware I added mentally. Definitely not as cool as theirs was, but with my own unique touch it could be a paradise - my home away from home, no thanks to my rotten fathers. I can't believe they didn't even put up a fight.

"Say, Itachi."

"Hhmm?"

"It's been months since Sasuke's birthday . . ." I wasn't really sure how to phrase this one. Luckily, Itachi was good at being a jerk and making my mouth move for me.

"Yes. And?"

"Is the bond thing you were talking about still causing him to stay close to you?"

"Not particularly, no."

Okay, that was real helpful. Maybe I should just be direct. It wasn't really my style to be pussyfooting around anyway. "Then why are you and Sasuke still sharing a room, bastard?" He was seriously starting to irritate me.

He raised an eyebrow, face still as blank as every other time I'd seen him and, just as I had wanted him to smile more, I had this outlandish urge to do something, _anything _to make him react. Maybe I should wave my arms around in the air or bock like a chicken. "Naruto-kun, you misunderstand, this isn't because of our bonding. Sasuke and I have always been quite close. We've never had separate rooms for as long as I can remember and I can assure you that my little brother has not once ever complained," he said, darkly beautiful voice rolling over me. With all the odd going-on's of the last twenty-four hours I'd almost forgot why I thought he made an amazing vocalist. How can anyone forget a voice like that? Was Itachi wilder on the inside than he showed? I swear, no one could sing like that and still have the emotional capacity of a rock. _And _still be that pretty. It just wasn't fair. (And I was ashamed to admit that I owned every CD his band had produced and _way _too much paraphernalia.)

"But, nobody knows who bit me. Am I going to have to stay close to anyone?" Please say yes, say I have to stay close to you and your brother. Come on, say it. Wait... where'd that come from? Oh man... seriously, I'm not gay, dammit! They've gotta be fucking with my head.

"Perhaps. Your case is unique," was his enigmatic answer. Damn.

"And?"

"And Sasuke and I will keep an eye on you. That is why you are across the hall," a small, but undoubtedly evil, smirk appeared on his face. "If you're so worried about it, why don't you share our bed tonight? I'm sure it's big enough for the three of us." Hmmm . . .

"Nani!?" I sputtered, but my mind said that definitely had possibilities.

I could see amusement in his eyes at my antics. "We will have to wait and see how you have changed. Try not to worry until then," he soothed. I swear to god it was like pulling my hair trying to get an answer out of them. Sasuke was just as bad, I could attest from experience, if not worse. Sure, Itachi was all willing to explain vampire politics and etiquette or whatever bullshit, but couldn't answer one goddamn question about my best friend and then was even more vague - if that was even possible! - about me.

And was he just pulling my leg with fucking innuendos or was he actually flirting with me? The concept of Uchiha Itachi flirting with me was undeniably a _scary as hell_ (but kind of thrilling at the same time...in a dangerous way) concept and so I opted for the former. Besides, I had enough problems with the weird moments Sasuke and I seemed to be sharing lately. I was not attracted to my best friend, I told myself firmly. We'd been friends for far too long to ruin it with stupid hormones. Maybe it was just vampire pheromones or something. That would explain why I thought Itachi was hot, too.

Jeez. I covered my face with my hands and sat on the edge of the large bed, sighing to relieve the tension that had built over the knowledge that I was apparently a bloodsucking monster now. I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder and didn't have to look up to know who it was.

_I'm not gay; I'm not gay; I'm not gay. _Maybe if I just kept telling myself it.

It seemed that Sasuke's father was never in a good mood, nor was he a particularly happy man, in any sense of the word. In fact, it seemed as though he held contempt on his face any time either of his sons' entered a room. What was his deal, seriously? Itachi and Sasuke were like amazing sons. Hell, I'd never seen kids who were more devoted to whatever their parents told them than these two so what was there to disapprove of? Maybe Itachi's music? I could see that was probably not the most respectable thing, but Itachi had run the family's business for a long while before he picked up music, from what he said and certainly Sasuke was a model son wasn't he?

So when Sasuke left me to go into the kitchen in search of his mother, where subsequently his father had just headed into, I could see the unease pouring out of him. A person who didn't know him might have said he just looked perfectly normal, but they didn't speak bastard. I'd know Sasuke since we were kids; if I hadn't been able to read him by now, I would have had to kick my own ass.

What the hell was I supposed to do anyway, twiddle my thumbs? With no small amount of exasperation, I voiced my complaints to Sasuke.

"I'll only be a second, idiot," he growled, "It would probably be best if you weren't around Father too much."

I frowned at him, showing my distaste. "Why not, bastard?"

If I didn't know better, I'd say that his eye was about to start twitching any moment, but that would be a very un-Uchiha like thing to do, so of course Sasuke would be a good little puppet and follow bastardish family traditions. I so just wanted to like poke him or something.

His face showing his consternation, he said, imperious as always, "Father isn't likely to approve of or even like you." Leaving no room for argument, he left me to go to the kitchen. "What with his two sons as failures, one can only imagine what goes through his head," Sasuke muttered with venom, almost out of sight, but it reached me nonetheless, and held even less promise of happy days ahead.

My heart sank. Poor Sasuke. I wondered what it was like to have a father that constantly belittled your efforts no matter what you tried. Hell, I tried to picture what it was like to have a father at all. Mine had died when I was too young to remember. My mother too, though I'd seen pictures of how beautiful she was. It really was a wonder I didn't have red hair.

On the other hand (and man there always seemed to be another hand didn't there?) I had Iruka and Kakashi, who had been like parents to me, but never fathers for some reason. They weren't so laid back that I thought strictly of them as friends or buds or whatever, but there was definitely some kind of laid back mutual understanding between the three of us. I could talk to them about anything and everything under the sun. (Which was very comforting growing up and yes, even now.) Maybe I should have a chat about vampirism with them?

That would go over well I bet. 'Hey, Iruka. Kakashi. So... now that I have this insatiable new urge to drink blood, and you guys practically saw me pawing at Itachi back at the hospital, what do you think I should do now?'

Smooth, Naruto, real smooth. All I'd have to do is crack some ill-conceived joke about the brothers 'daddy issues' after having stupidly fallen into bed with the both of them (that one planted itself thanks to Itachi's little joke) and proceed to tell Sasuke's father just where he could shove all of Sasuke's medals, awards, and trophy's if he didn't think his son was good enough, to complete my Day of Stupidity (as it was coming to be known) and make myself really worthy of the nickname my best friend had bestowed on me.

At least it couldn't get any worse, right?

A/n: It's sad, but I think I'm losing interest in Naruto. Lately, Kishi's been pullin' some _bullshit. _I just don't know…

_--M_


	3. Secrets

_**Disclaimer: **_Still don't own…~

_**Warnings:**_Blood and lots of it, Yaoi Threesome - M/M/M, Incest/Uchihacest + Naruto (can you say... cha-ching!?), Cross-dressing, fluff, and definitely some angst.

**A/n: **Some _sort-of_ smexing in this chapter. XD It trails into the next one…

_**Blood Thirsty and Hell-bent**_

**Ch. 3**

_~matahari_

Sasuke walked around the large marble-topped island in the middle of the spacious kitchen, headed for his parents who were sitting happily in the breakfast nook, apparently enjoying some last minute brunch. Despite the fact that Mother was one of them as well, she'd never felt comfortable on a strictly liquid diet, if you knew what he meant.

Father, who had been smiling a very small smile to his wife, blanked his face as his youngest son approached. Sasuke fought the urge to scowl at his Father. Schooling his features into that of nonchalance, he took his Mother's hand and turning it over, placed a gentle kiss over the light beating of her pulse point. It was a sign of respect, love, but most importantly trust, between the two of them.

She giggled at her son's actions. Sasuke and she had always been far closer than her and Itachi. She loved both her boys very much, but Sasuke was just hers, all hers. Shifting her overly large stomach, she faced her little-boy-turned-man and smiled warmly at him. Sasuke smiled back. "Naruto and I are ready to go shopping, Mother, whenever you are ready," he said lightly.

"Oh, good! Where is Naruto-chan, darling?" Mikoto addressed him.

"In the foyer, Mother." He noticed her starting to propel herself up and out of the booth-like seat and hastened to help her. Offering his arm, he added, "We can wait until you are ready to go, Mother. You should be careful of the baby."

She waved his concerns away, a hand absently rubbing her pregnant tummy. "Nonsense. There's no reason for you two strapping boys to have to wait on your old doddering mother."

The sarcasm was evident in her voice but was clearly, as always, his mother's way of poking fun at herself. He could hardly help the amusement pulling at the corner of his lips. "Besides, we have to find my lovely Sasu-chan something gorgeous. I promised remember," she winked. Sasuke didn't even turn his head at the derisive snort he heard from his father. Instead, he kept his full attention on his mother as she turned him around. "You go on, dear. I'll be there in just a moment."

Obeying, Sasuke went to join Naruto and hopefully quell the blonde's onslaught of questions/complaints that always seemed to be available in droves. He always caused a constant stream of what Sasuke could only define as palpable infuriation.

Fugaku turned to his wife. "Why do you always encourage that boy's awful quirks," he accused.

She scoffed. "They're not awful you old prude. Just because they weren't something evident in our time doesn't mean that boys his age didn't do it then as well." She beamed as she thought of her Sasuke. He may not have been the pride and joy of the Uchiha family according to her husband, but he was _her_ pride and _her_ joy. "He's unique."

"Unique is not always a good thing," he reminded her, face darkened. "Remember where unique got people in our day," he said, as he got up and left the kitchen.

She did remember. She remembered the awful atrocities that were forced upon innocents for being different. But this was a different place and most definitely a different time. She didn't know what her husband was playing at; he knew well that nobody was ever stoned these days or, god forbid, burned at the stake. Did that mean that the family was planning something? But how could they really hurt one of their own when the rest were just as odd if not far worse?

She needed to talk to her son, warn him. Just in case. A . . . precaution.

I flopped quite ungracefully and totally boneless onto my large bed. Which was very comfortable, I noted happily. Shopping had been completely brutal. How the hell could Sasuke keep up with his mom? More importantly how the hell had she moved that fast while pregnant!? God, then Sasuke had left me alone with her for a while. I shuddered a little at the thought.

No matter. I was going to look totally _Hot_ tomorrow, with a capital 'H' baby! I'm not normally one for shopping (well...usually) but it had actually been pretty fun with the kind of taste that Sasuke's family had - it was like some unspoken rule: If you aren't well dressed you're not allowed to be an Uchiha. It was pretty sexy (I expected less from vampires?). Aren't they like one of the sexiest creatures in fiction? I idly wondered if the two brothers were anything like the vamps in Ino's supernatural romance novels. Probably not, I guessed. Of course, one could never tell with how hot the bastards were already. What could vampiric allure add to their already fine asses.

I stretched, joints popping as the kinks in my muscles loosened. I let my mind wander, hopefully if I let everything go I could sleep. Ever since I was a child, I'd had to forcibly make myself relax enough to go to sleep except for my junior year of high school when sleeping pills had become my favored companion.

I'd been feeling a little odd; maybe I should talk to my new caretakers and see if there were any bloodsucker reasons for it. Besides, the jerk offs hadn't explained much yet about my own changes. Deciding that I should see if they were awake still at least because I wouldn't get any sleep otherwise, I heaved myself out of bed, my body promising abuse for leaving it, and left the room quietly. Realizing that if I knocked loudly, I'd probably wake up any other inhabitants of this hall and I had no way of knowing whether the rooms were occupied or not, I settled on a light knock. My hearing had already heightened enough that I knew that Sasuke or Itachi should hear that easily.

No answer. I rapped my knuckles lightly again. I checked the door knob. It turned easily so with a conscious reprimand for my actions, I pushed inward just an inch, then six, then finally about a foot. Poking my head in I looked around only to find it completely empty. Huh, wonder where they went?

I was going to close the door, figuring I'd wait until morning since I couldn't seem to find them, when I heard a noise. It was like a low hum to my ears. Hmm, there it was again. The pitch had started to change a little... and then there was another sound only not as deep as the first. As near as I could tell, it was coming from somewhere off to the right, which meant it had to be coming from behind one of the doors. The room was dim, but one of the lamps on a bedside table was on still. It made it so that I could just barely make out a sliver of light leaving the crack under one of the doors.

I tiptoed (don't ask why) my way over to the door, listening at it for a moment. I could hear voices. No matter how much my brain was screaming at me that this was wrong, that it was an invasion of privacy, I couldn't seem to stop my ear from pressing to the door. That was when I realized that it hadn't shut all the way. The door had closed but the mechanism hadn't clicked. It was a terrible thing to do, but I gently leaned into the door until it started to give. Thank god, it was silent. It would have been a far easier ordeal if the Uchiha had built a traditional Japanese house with sliding doors, but unfortunately the architecture was as western as they came.

The crack was only wide enough to show the back of an antique looking bathtub and the side of the toilet. It was the tub that caught my interest though. It was easily large enough to hold at least three adults comfortably and sunken into the floor, but it only held Sasuke. I could just barely see his pale shoulders. Itachi was sitting behind him, perched on the edge of the tub's rim, only in a pair of black pants rolled up to the knee. His legs were slipped easily behind his little brother in the water while long, graceful fingers deftly moved through the younger Uchiha's hair.

One shoulder was pressed against Itachi's thigh as his head stayed leaning forward, bangs obscuring the side of his face. His posture was what was startling though; I'd never once seen Sasuke so hunched in on himself (well maybe that one summer his cat died - in his defense, we _were_ only four) but he had always been the strongest person I knew. I was always the weak one. I was always either too emotional or too expressive to him - brash and abrasive, he'd once told me.

"Otouto," Itachi murmured, close to his ear.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," but surely that couldn't be Sasuke's voice. It sounded so distant and meek.

The elder Uchiha hummed, nodding, and I couldn't help but notice how all that beautiful black hair cascading down his back shifted with the movement, though it was still bound at the base of his neck. I'd seen pictures of his performances where his hair was undone, swirling with his passion, but it would be nothing compared to it this close up.

"Sasuke, you know he's just blinded by the prejudices of his youth. He doesn't really feel this way, it's just all he knows," Itachi said softly and as he collected the hair falling in Sasuke's face to lather it with the shampoo, I could finally see his face. Finally see his pain, as one lone tear slid down his cheek to mingle with the water of the bath. I couldn't see his eyes, but somehow I knew they would be a puffy red and more expressive than he ever let them be.

Sasuke huffed. "He thinks I'm a freak still," he whispered without a hint of emotion but so quietly that I started to lean forward before I caught myself. Itachi had retrieved a large pitcher from somewhere, one with a large dip around the lip to lead the water out, and scooped from the bath to pour it over his little brother's head, rinsing away the soft white suds. After replacing the pitcher in its rightful place he spoke again.

"Father doesn't think you're a freak, Sasuke," Itachi said firmly, "Now I will not let you wallow in self pity like this." He let his hands trail the length of Sasuke's neck to his beautifully muscled shoulders and down his back. Long fingers, still tipped in black I noticed (I always wondered how Itachi could be such a rocker at heart, but I guess it was things like this that gave it away), moved up and down soothingly and came to rest on those pale shoulders where they began to knead away at the tense muscles. Sasuke's shoulders slumped visibly and he let out a sigh that sounded as though it held all the worries his heart contained.

It seemed Itachi didn't just know how to physically release all of Sasuke's tension, but he also knew how to make him let go of his emotional pain as well. The younger Uchiha relaxed into the rhythm of Itachi's fingers, letting himself be moved like a doll, his knees moving out of the water as he pressed them against his chest, placing his chin on them, wrapping his arms loosely around his folded legs.

"This simply won't do, little brother," Itachi teased, pressing his thumbs in the hollows beside Sasuke's spine and dragging them down, subsequently drawing a long, content groan out of him. "That's better," Itachi enthused. "You were being far too quiet." He then leaned down, as I watched enraptured but with a faint surprise, and pressed his lips somewhere between Sasuke's temple and cheekbone, more gently than I thought he had in him.

Sasuke turned his head just ever so, hesitantly, his large dark eyes searching out Itachi's. My fascination grew further as Sasuke's eyes seemed to start glowing with an inner light, scarlet just barely seen swimming in those deep black depths. It was odd how his expression changed to something else entirely, something slightly feral, animalistic, but then mostly softening into what looked like submission. His eyelids lowered, and he tilted his head slightly.

Before I could figure out just what had passed between the brothers, Itachi leaned forward again, this time with parted lips. I clapped a hand over my mouth before I could gasp at the sight of his elongated canines, glinting with malicious intent in the candle light. An overwhelming fear gripped my heart. What should I do? Was this normal? Was he going to hurt Sasuke? I couldn't let that happen!

_Oh, god! What should I do? What should I do? Shit! Shit! Shit!_

I was panicking, wondering if I should maybe burst into the room and stop whatever was about to transpire, except as usual while I was busy worrying, things were happening. Itachi had sunk gently into Sasuke's neck after licking the skin there and the younger brother was clutching Itachi's arms to him and keening desperately like an animal. Itachi groaned, pulling Sasuke closer, trying to turn him so he could be granted better access to that long, pale neck.

And I swear to God (was I allowed to do that now?) that my jaw actually dropped when quicker than I could even follow their positions changed again. It was wrong. So wrong, but I just couldn't seem to care. It was beautiful and sinfully sexy and it honestly didn't once cross my mind that they were brothers. In fact, to my shame, that may have just made me hotter if it had.

Before I could see what was happening, Itachi let go of Sasuke's neck, blood still coating his lips and teeth. He looked like some wild beast and Jesus, God in Heaven I was getting hard just _seeing_ it. Sasuke turned with as much speed as he could muster and before the shock could even set in, I was watching them kiss each other with a raw passion I'd never seen in two people before, Sasuke's tongue visibly licking the blood out of Itachi's mouth and off his lips like a starved cat as he held his brother's face in his hands.

"Waiting for him is keeping you pent up, little brother," Itachi managed with faint amusement when they pulled apart. Sasuke was still licking at his lips and seemed to be having a very hard time focusing.

"Nnn... I don't want to tell him yet." As Itachi sank fangs into the soft hollow in between his shoulder and neck, just below the first bite, Sasuke gripped Itachi's biceps in a hold that would surely have crushed a mortal man, nails leaving small red crescents in their wake. "If ever," he whispered, lapping at the now bloody half moons when his brother released his neck, bloody marks that were healing almost immediately right before his eyes.

"I heard that," Itachi said gently. "Just admit you love him."

Sasuke leaned back, sinking downward again till his forearms were resting on Itachi's thighs; I immediately missed the arch of his back and the curve of his ass that had shown. He looked up into his brother's face angrily. "So? I love you, too. What's your point?" He looked away, glaring at the wall beside them.

The seemingly inconspicuous answer made Itachi pause. His eyes widened in disbelief. "What?" he breathed out sharply.

Sasuke turned back to his sibling, acutely aware that something was wrong by Itachi's tone of voice. Then it hit him. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. For all his articulacy, he was left gaping like a fish.

It looked as though Itachi was eyeing him with suspicion, but his face also looked genuinely baffled. "Did you mean that?" Itachi murmured into his neck, nuzzling him affectionately. Sasuke's eyes went from their widened state to a more normal size and became slightly heavy lidded at the feelings his brother had drawn from him.

I scrambled up away from door and left the room like a bat out of hell - and jeez, that made a really bad pun now that I was damned, didn't it? One thing was for certain, as I reached my room across the hall: Talk or no talk, I was not going to get any sleep _now_.

If this was truly what it meant to let go and be a bloodthirsty monster lusting over the sound of life pumping through another's veins then I was _so _glad that someone had signed me up. Maybe vampires _were_ sexy like in those stupid novels, ferocious carnal desires and pleasures of the flesh ruling their hearts.

Oh man. What was I in for now?

-- --

**A/n: **Like I said, expect sex in the next one. Obviously, the rating will go up then. ^_~

_--M_


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